Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida has changed his marketing campaign supervisor, Generra Peck, within the newest shake-up in his weekslong try to reinvigorate his struggling bid for the White House.

Replacing Ms. Peck as marketing campaign supervisor is James Uthmeier, the governor’s chief of workers and one in all his most trusted advisers however somebody with little marketing campaign expertise. In one other important shift, David Polyansky, one of many architects of the early-state technique at Never Back Down, the primary pro-DeSantis tremendous PAC, is transferring from that exterior group to the marketing campaign. The Messenger earlier reported the strikes.

The marketing campaign staffing modifications — the third spherical in lower than a month — come as Mr. DeSantis and his message have to this point struggled to attach with Republican main voters. Mr. DeSantis has constructed his candidacy on being a extra electable Republican and the kind of politician who can really accomplish what he guarantees.

But a recent New York Times/Siena College poll confirmed that Republican voters considered former President Donald J. Trump as a stronger candidate in opposition to President Biden, and because the Republican contender extra more likely to “get things done.”

Ms. Peck, who will keep on because the marketing campaign’s chief strategist, had drawn intense criticism from a few of Mr. DeSantis’s allies and donors after heavy spending led to a fund-raising shortfall.

In response, the marketing campaign needed to lay off greater than a 3rd of its workers and begin holding smaller occasions — a leaner operation extra suited to a candidate who’s trailing properly behind Mr. Trump. The successive rounds of modifications have been an everlasting distraction for Mr. DeSantis’s marketing campaign.

In 2022, Ms. Peck, 36, oversaw Mr. DeSantis’s overwhelming re-election as governor, making herself a useful confidante to the governor and his spouse, Casey. But she had by no means labored on a presidential marketing campaign, a lot much less run one. Mr. Uthmeier, 35, seems to have even much less direct political expertise than Ms. Peck, underscoring the diploma to which Mr. DeSantis values private loyalty and the way the DeSantises’ belief typically issues most.

Mr. Uthmeier, a member of the Federalist Society, the conservative authorized group, served as basic counsel to the governor and in addition labored within the Trump administration. He started his profession as a litigation affiliate within the Washington workplace of the agency Jones Day, in response to the Federalist Society’s web site.

“James Uthmeier has been one of Gov. DeSantis’s top advisers for years, and he is needed where it matters most: working hand in hand with Generra Peck and the rest of the team to put the governor in the best possible position to win this primary and defeat Joe Biden,” Andrew Romeo, the marketing campaign’s communications director, stated in a press release.

Mr. Uthmeier stated in a press release that “people have written Governor DeSantis’s obituary many times” however that his boss “has proven that he knows how to win.”

The arrival of Mr. Polyansky, who has labored intently for years with the tremendous PAC’s predominant strategist, Jeff Roe, is seen as a big change, as properly. The tremendous PAC and the marketing campaign have had some tensions over technique.

Mr. Polyansky has a exact understanding of politics in Iowa, the place Mr. DeSantis’s fortunes more and more experience on a powerful displaying. But Mr. Polyansky can even convey Mr. Roe’s ideas concerning the marketing campaign and its messaging instantly into its high ranges.

Under the present byzantine guidelines of marketing campaign finance, strategists with the tremendous PAC can instantly be part of the marketing campaign, however the reverse is prohibited.

Mr. Polyansky, who had been overseeing the tremendous PAC’s early state operations, was on the path in latest weeks with Mr. DeSantis because the group put collectively a bus tour for the governor. After the marketing campaign’s money crunch, the tremendous PAC started taking on most of the capabilities usually related to a marketing campaign, like organizing retail stops and talking occasions.

“David Polyansky will also be a critical addition to the team, given his presidential campaign experience in Iowa and work at Never Back Down,” Mr. Romeo stated.

By the time Mr. DeSantis changed her, Ms. Peck, who has restricted strategic expertise, was broadly seen as miscast within the marketing campaign supervisor position, even by those that appreciated her. She had come below hearth for constructing a marketing campaign workforce so shortly that Mr. DeSantis was compelled to put off roughly 40 % of his aides solely two months into his candidacy.

Ms. Peck allowed aides operating a “DeSantis War Room” Twitter account to submit on-line movies freely however exterior regular approval channels, in response to an individual aware of the marketing campaign’s operations. The account shared a video that the marketing campaign had secretly made and pushed out to a pleasant supporter to submit first, making it seem natural. The video was widely criticized as homophobic.

Ms. Peck additionally wrote a memo with out the enter or information of some senior marketing campaign workers members that appeared to offer course to the tremendous PAC, and was not directly crucial of a few of its actions, like going off the tv airwaves in New Hampshire.

During a marketing campaign retreat with donors in Park City, Utah, about two weeks in the past, a number of folks raised issues with Mr. DeSantis and his spouse concerning the state of his marketing campaign’s funds, in response to three folks briefed on the discussions.

The campaign’s finances were so worrying that Mr. Uthmeier, whereas nonetheless chief of workers, obtained a private briefing on its funds from Ethan Eilon, now the deputy marketing campaign supervisor, after which delivered an evaluation to the governor.

Mr. Uthmeier joined the governor’s workplace shortly after Mr. DeSantis took energy in 2019. Since Mr. DeSantis introduced his run for president, Mr. Uthmeier has typically worn two hats: In latest weeks, he additionally frolicked elevating cash for the marketing campaign. Mr. DeSantis has defended his aide’s actions, saying he was doing in order a volunteer.

Nikki Fried, the chairwoman of the Florida Democratic Party, filed ethics and election complaints in opposition to Mr. Uthmeier and two different high aides to Mr. DeSantis. She stated the officers had illegally solicited contributions from lobbyists and endorsements from state lawmakers, who stated they felt pressured into agreeing as a result of Mr. DeSantis had but to signal the state funds.

Perhaps reflecting the unsure nature of presidential politics, Mr. Uthmeier isn’t completely giving up his seat within the governor’s workplace. Instead, he’s taking a “leave of absence” as chief of workers, in response to a spokesman for the governor. Another influential DeSantis aide, Alex Kelly, will function appearing chief of workers.

Mr. Trump’s allies took the news as yet one more alternative to brag about his lead within the polls and Mr. DeSantis’s monetary challenges.

“DeSantis is broke. How many more Gulfstream flights can he afford?” stated Karoline Leavitt, a spokeswoman for Make America Great Again, a pro-Trump tremendous PAC. (Ms. Leavitt was referring to Mr. DeSantis’s reliance on private planes to jet round to marketing campaign stops, even after his operation was compelled to chop prices.)

Staff turnover has been a continuing in Mr. DeSantis’s runs for elected workplace, and he has had little overlap between any of the groups who’ve labored on his campaigns since he first grew to become a congressman in 2012, folks concerned in his races have stated.

Before his slender victory for governor in 2018, Mr. DeSantis additionally shook up his campaign early within the race, when he was trailing Andrew Gillum, a Democrat, and struggling to hone his message.

Whit Ayres, a Republican political guide who labored for Mr. DeSantis on that race however stated he had not heard from the governor since, stated that changing workers may do solely a lot when the candidate himself may be a part of the issue.

Mr. Ayres pointed to Mr. DeSantis’s feedback concerning the Russian invasion of Ukraine being a “territorial dispute,” his suggestion that he would possibly appoint the vaccine skeptic and Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to a high public well being submit, and his defense of Florida’s controversial academic requirements on slavery.

“I’ve watched one unforced error after another,” Mr. Ayres stated. “That suggests to me that he doesn’t have the political instincts to play at this level.”

Jonathan Swan contributed reporting from Washington.